Lately...

I'm caught in this weird cycle right now where it feels like we're either moving at warp speed, or totally, and completely relaxed. There's just not a whole lot of "in between" going on right now.

In the past 3 weeks, we've been to North Florida, Long Boat Key and Orlando. Oh, and we have a family reunion quickly approaching. Just putting all of that down in words makes my head spin! No wonder my suitcase has found a nice cozy spot in the corner of my bedroom!

But during the travel, we've had so many incredibly relaxing days and nights. I've read more magazines and books and eaten more delicious meals in the past 4 weeks than I have in the past 4 months! So, despite the miles being put on the car, it's been a really fun month.

As I mentioned, I popped over to Orlando this week for a quick 24-hour trip to see my best friend Ashley and her kids who were in town from Texas. We had a great visit (sorry, no pics right now, Ash is going to email them to me when she gets home). And of course, the boys loved staying the night at Nana & Paca's... where the answer to any question is almost always "Sure!"

So to summarize the past week or so, here's what we've been doing lately...

Payton is doing a summer kickball league that started last week.

(That's him on the far left playing with his shirt)

 Finally...a sport he loves!

I guess it helps that all of his buddies are on his team.

 I've been shoving encouraging the kids to "get outside and play" (e.g. away from electronics) as much as possible. It's amazing what they come up with when forced to use their imaginations. Like this ramp made out of a boogie board and a shoe box.

 Finished up my school supply shopping this week. You can go ahead and hate me now.

 During the daily afternoon thunderstorms, we've been doing a LOT of Play-Doh.

Good thing we both enjoy it.

If you're ever looking for Parker and can't find him...check the stuffed animal basket. It's his favorite place to sit these days.

 The boys spent a lot of time in my parents hot tub while we were visiting.

(Yes, that's a lollipop in Parker's hand... safe, I know)

 And someone decided he wanted to try skinny dipping...

 I think he may grow up to be a firefighter. He LOVES the hose.

 My Dad took us all to see the new "Turbo" movie. It was Parker's first time in a movie theater, and he loved it.

These boys sure do love their Paca.

 Cuddled on the couch for bedtime stories. Melt my heart.

And this guy... well, we can't WAIT to welcome him home on Monday.

If Parker says "Mama, I wanna see Daddy" one more time, my heart just might break.

That's all for now. 

I'm planning to do at least one more post this week to share some reviews of my first Birchbox contents. It was like a little receiving a little Christmas present in July! So stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, please pray for Brian and his team returning from Haiti. For safe flights, for sound minds and for full hearts. We know they've made a huge impact while they were there, and we can't wait to put our arms around him again.

Winding Down the Summer

We've had such a fun time these last few weeks of summer, I've barely had time to document it all in the blog!

With just a few words and a LOT of photos, here's a brief (or not so brief) recap of our final days of summer:

We took Parker to Payton's favorite train stores for the first time.

He LOVED it by the way!

(Our first stop was Chick-fil-A - Parker LOVES the CFA cow. Actually he's a bit obsessed)

Then we hit the train store:

 

 Payton had MANY fun playdates including celebrating his friend Lilly's birthday:

 (Parker thoroughly enjoyed a cupcake too!)

 

And bowling with his friend Nate & his brother Eric:

Pool time (e.g. water balloon time) with our neighbors:

 

And going on a movie date with Mom to see "Diary of a Wimpy Kid":

There has also been lots of awesome family togetherness including...

A visit from Uncle Bryan:

 

A visit from Nana:

 

 I even managed to fit in a little bit of craft time:

 

And of course there's been lots of brotherly love...

And while Daddy had to travel the last week of the summer, the boys sure were happy to see him when he got home. They couldn't even wait for him to get in the house!

 They needed some Daddy time!

I'm going to try not to get all sappy about the summer coming to an end, although I have to say that this was one of the most fun summer's we've ever had. The boys really enjoyed each other's company and I loved watching their bond grow stronger day by day.

I feel like we've all grown a lot this summer. Payton has matured emotionally. Parker has grown leaps & bounds. Brian and I have really relished the time with the boys and we've made some big family decisions (e.g. 2 kids is perfect for us - NO MORE!).

Summer 2012 deserves a gold medal in my book.

Thank you God for allowing us to experience such growth this summer. We look forward to an amazing school year and a super fun fall...full of snuggly sweaters, pumpkins, sweet-scented candles, cinnamon brooms, tall non-fat pumpkin spice lattes & cooler weather (I HOPE!!!).

 Goodbye Summer - we will miss you!

 

Weekending

We had a great weekend filled with various activities - most of which were enjoyed at home I might add. This is not something we get to enjoy often, as it seems our schedules are always so full on the weekends. Not that that is a bad thing, but sometimes it's nice to have a low-key weekend around the house (especially since I was nursing a bad cold).
I previously posted about Payton's 1st grade carnival that was held on Friday. Since I was volunteering at the event, my mom was nice enough to come into town to help watch Parker, and stay for a couple days to visit.
While Payton was in school on Friday, we headed to the mall for some fun with the little guy. It was pouring rain all morning, so the mall was the perfect spot for him to burn off some energy. Of course when you go to the mall with a grandparent, they let your child do all the things that you normally don't do because they cost extra money. Like...

Ride the carrousel:

 I was trying to get a good close-up picture of them, but the ride was over and all Parker would do is sign the word "more, more, more." He didn't want the fun to end!

And he got to ride the rides by the play area:

(e.g. Nana really put money into the ride, as opposed to me who usually just lets him sit on them and I make noise like they are really working.)

 Nana also got Parker a great set of Elmo books that he is now obsessed with:

On Saturday, Brian & Payton got to play in the Westchase Dad's Club Mini Golf Tournament. They were teamed up with another one of Payton's buddies and his father. It was such a fun event.

They had this portable course set up under the covered basketball courts at Payton's school. There were 18 holes and the kids really got into it!

 

Here is Payton & his team mate, Grayson.

(How cute are they?!?)

 We stopped by after Parker's nap and of course the little guy couldn't help but "get involved" too:

 Big brother trying so hard to pose for a picture. Parker was having nothing to do with it.

Here's the team:

 After the tournament, there was a food truck rally in front of the school. I was too busy to take any photos of it, but I wish I had. The food was SO good! If you've never eaten from a food truck, I highly recommend it. YUM-O!

After saying our goodbye's to Nana, we all rested for a bit and then headed out on a bike ride up to spray park in our little Village area. Again, no pics from this as my cold had now fully taken over and I was not feeling so hot. I ended up at the urgent care center fearing I had a sinus infection ($134 later, I found out it was just allergies/cold - I HATE MEDICAL INSURANCE!!! Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.)

Sunday was also a low-key day - probably because when Mom isn't feeling well, the whole family slows down.

Brian was teaching the first service at church, so I was home with both boys. I guess they must have known I wasn't feeling 100% because they were little angels!

They actually sat on the couch together with their blankets and read books for like 20 minutes!!

 Notice Parker is looking at his Elmo books? He loves them!

 Of course the calm didn't last forever. But they did find ways to entertain themselves.

Like rolling up into blanket mummies:

 After church, Parker took a nice long nap and Brian took Payton out to run some errands. So I took advantage of a quiet house, and rested on the couch. I felt much better in the afternoon.

We even busted out the baby pool and Popsicles for a fun afternoon treat:

 This boy loves Popsicles!

Great tip: If you're going to give a 15-month old a popsicle, do it in a baby pool. All you have to do is rinse them off when they're done! No mess!

 It was just what the doctor ordered!

Aside from a bit of a runny nose, I'm finally feeling back to normal.

Thanks boys (all 3) & Mom for taking care of me this weekend. I love you!